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WineRelease.com's December 15, 2011 Monthly Newsletter.

Greetings from WineRelease.com, now 1,828 winery listings strong.

In addition to the typical holiday-inspired dinner and cocktail parties, this time of year finds those of us in Northern California celebrating the onset of the Dungeness crab season. The season was delayed a bit this year, due to a pricing dispute, but I’m happy to report that the season is fully underway and we are enjoying some of the most delicious fresh crab that I’ve experienced to date. At my house, we steam our (live) crabs, and serve cracked with a champagne-vinegar mignonette, a sparkling California wine, and melted butter seasoned with fresh Meyer lemon juice. (You know the dinner is over when the butter returns to solid.)

This holiday season finds many of us pulling out those special bottles from the depths of our cellars. My brother, Ken, had a different take on that, which had some fun results.

On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, Ken hosted his annual soup lunch, featuring my famous butternut squash soup, chili, my mom’s Italian wedding soup, and of course the traditional turkey noodle. Instead of selecting one or two wines to feed the crowd of 40+ who convened upon his Napa Valley home on that afternoon, he pulled out every bottle of those ‘one-offs’ that had been taking up space in his cellar. You know, those bottles that people bring to dinner that are never consumed? He had some dating back to the 1980s, and we had a great time opening each of them, finding some delicious surprises amongst the group.

However you plan to celebrate this season, whether with family, friends, or others, we at WineRelease wish you all of the best health, happiness, and delicious wines moving into the new year....

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